Child&#39;s adjustable exerciser



Jan. 17, 1961 e. H. BARTLETT 2,968,337

CHILDS ADJUSTABLE EXERCISER Filed Feb. 11. 1959 INVENTOR. GEORGE H. BARTLETT wig BY" "W6 ATTORN EY a es United States Patent ice CHILDS ADJUSTABLE EXERCISER George H. Bartlett; P.0L Box 7, Ridgefield, Wash. Filed Feb. 11, 1959, Ser. No. 7532,530" ZCIaims. Cl. 155-18)" This invention relates in general to an'exerciser fora child on which the child, by controlled movement of his body, can spring up and down, and, more'specifical'ly, the inventionrelates to an exerciser in the form of a springmou-nted hobby-horse. I

An. object of this invention is to provide an improved exerciser of this type on which even a smallchild can seat himself, without having to be lifted ontothe device and on-which the childs feet will remain close to the floor, sothat the likelihood of falling offofthe device orthe possibility'ofbeing bruised in the event of such falllwill be practically eliminated.

Anotherobject of 'this invention is to provide animproved'spring-operating hobby-horse which can be easily adjusted to correspond to. the size .and weight-of the child, so that the growing child will be able to use and v enjoy the exerciser overa longer period of time.

A further object of ,the invention-is to provide an improvedspring-mountedadjustable exerciser which willbesirnple, attractive, practical, and durable inconstruction, and which can be manufactured and sold at a mod crate attractive price.

, The manner in which these objects and other incidental advantages are achieved with the improved adjustable exerciser of the present invention will be readily understood from the following brief description in which reference is made to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the device illustrating in full lines the device as set up for use fora very small child and .illustratingin broken lines the adjusted positionof certain parts when the device is adjusted' for use by an older-andlargerchild;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the device when set up in the full line position of Fig. l; and

Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 of Fig. 1.

The device includes a base 10 having four laterally extending arms 11, 12, 13 and 14, two on each side, adapted to have wheels removably mounted on their extremities. Preferably, but not necessarily, the base is composed of two identical tubular members, having curved ends and straight intermediate m-ain portions as shown in Fig. 2, and welded together along these straight portions, with both tubular members lying entirely in the same plane. In order to provide a simple form of mounting for the wheels on the base a collar 15 is welded on each arm of the base near the outer end of the arm, and, after the wheel is slipped on the end of each tubular arm, the wheel is held in place by a removable cotter pin 16 inserted through two diametrically opposite holes in the outer end of the arm. The inner end of the hub of each wheel is provided a pair of diametrically opposite holes and a second pair of holes (indicated at 35 in Fig. 2) is provided on each tubular arm near the collar 15 so that each wheel may be prevented from rotating when it is desired to have the device remain in one place while being used. Other means for mounting the wheels on the. base may of course be 2,968,337 Patented Jan. 1--7,'- 1961 2'. substituted, but the'meansas-illustrated is'preferred because of its simplicity. V

Wheels of any desired size may be used on'the-device butprefe'rably the front wheels 1-7 are of larger diameter; than the rear wheels 18, for a reason later explained:

A resilient, metal, spring ridingbar-19, shaped as shown in Fig. 1, has its lower end-firmly secured to the base; by suitable means, such as the metal clamp strap 20- and the bolt 21. This riding bar is'positioned ina ver tical plane and thus is perpendicular tothe pla'neof the base. The riding bar-l9 is formed with a curved main spring portion 22,- preferablycomprising more than of a circle, which-is succeeded by a straight; seat-supporting, terminal portion 23; extending-obliquely. downwardly. and-rearwardly and inclined at a substantial angle, for example, between 30" and 60, with the horizontal. This downwardly inclined'endportion 23' ofthe riding bar 19 is an important feature of the inventiom The inclined free end portion 23*of the riding bar '19 terminates a short distance above the base 10, theinter-- vening space being sufiicient to permit substantial down. movement of the end of-the riding bar in the flexing o'fthe bar without coming into actualcontact with-'the base.- 7

A saddle or seat 24 is rigidly but adjustably securedon one end of a -fiat mounting bar-25. A handle ai'idfoo't rest assembly 26 is secured on the other endof the mounting bar 25. The two-ends-of-the mounting bar 25 extend at angularity with respect to the central position, the angles which the 'ends form with the central portion beingsuchthat the handle and foot rest assembly preferably will be substantially perpendicular to a line-deter-- mined by the seat portion,-and'the seat portion-prefen ably sloping slightly downwardly forwardly.

The mounting barZS-hasan integral sleeve 27 which extends around underenath the riding barand holds the mounting bar slidably on the inclined end portion '23 of the spring riding bar 19. A suitable clamping screw 28 enables the mounting bar 25, and therewiththe seat 24 and handle and foot rest-assembly to 'be secured; in any desired adjustedposition=on-the end portion 23-of the riding bar.

The handle andfoot assembly 26 (see Fig- 3) includes a pair of identical b ars'29a nd 29, the main portions of which'are parallel toeach other and which are welded to opposite sides of a'plate 30." A bolt '31 extends through the"plate'30 and through 'tlie'upper from end dftiofii of the mounting bar 25 and thus secures the handle and. foot assembly firmly to the mounting bar and in desired position with respect to the saddle or seat 24. The upper ends of the bars 29 and 29' are turned outwardly at right angles in opposite directions to form handle bars 32 and 32' respectively, and the bottom end of the bars 29 and 29 similarly are turned outwardly in opposite directions to form foot rests 33 and 33. These handle bars and foot rests are covered with rubber or other suitable material to facilitate the holding of the hands and feet in place on the same when the child is seated on the device.

Assuming that the device is to be used by a very small child, the mounting bar 25, and with it the seat and handle and foot rest assembly, is secured near the lower end of the inclined straight portion 23 of the spring riding bar 19 as shown in full lines in Fig. 1. This brings the seat 24 low enough so that a small child can climb onto the seat without assistance and without difliculty, and it brings the foot rests 33 and 33' so close to the floor that the child can have the option of leaving his feet on the floor or placing them on the foot rests. Generally the child will keep his feet on the floor at first and then place them on the foot rests as he becomes accustomed to the exerciser and gains more confidence. Any likelihood that the child will fall off the device is reduced to a minimum since the placing of the feet on the floor,

should the child be unsteady, would ordinarily prevent this. The slight downward and forward slope of the seat and the fact that the child will lean slightly forward when holding onto the handle bars prevents the like lihood of the child falling backwards off the seat. Furthermore, since the seat is relatively close to the floor, the child is not likely to bruise himself even if he does fall off the device.

The child will learn quickly, first with his feet on the floor and then with this feet on the foot rests, how to move his body so as to make the riding bar spring up and down. By having the mounting bar 25, and therewith the seat, secured near the lower end of the inclined straight portion 23 of the spring riding bar 19 very little weight on the seat will be sufficient to flex the spring riding bar, and thus the device operates as desired with a very small, light weight child.

When the device is to be used by a larger, heavier child the mounting bar 25 is adjusted upwardly on the inclined straight portion 23 of the riding bar 19 into a satisfactory position, such as that indicated in broken lines in Fig. 1, depending upon the size of the child. In this properly adjusted position the distance of the seat and foot rests from the floor will be in proportion to the size of the child and will be similar proportionately to the relative location in the case of the smaller child. Furthermore, since a greater amount of weight is required to produce approximately the same amount of flexing of the spring riding bar 19 when the seat and the handle bar and foot assembly are positioned further up on the inclined rear portion of the riding bar and further away from the free end of the riding bar, the device thus is accommodated to the weight of the heavier and larger child, while the device would be unsuitable for the larger and heavier child with the seat in the lower full line position previously mentioned. In this way the device can be used and enjoyed by the growing child for a longer period of time than in the case of the usual type of hobby horses in which little or no provision is made for any comparable adjustment.

The head 34 of the device is made of suitable plastic, leather, or other material, shaped and stuffed to resemble a horse as indicated and is secured by suitable means (not shown) to the bars 29 and 29' so as to extend forwardly and upwardly from the device.

The down and up swing of the spring riding bar 19 exerts a slight forward thrust on the device. When the thrust will act to propel the entire device forwardly,

particularly when the front wheels 17 are of larger diameter than the rear wheels 18 and thereby maintain the base 10 in an upwardly-forwardly sloping position. With such an arrangement the child, after a moderate amount of practice with the device, can propel himself along the floor without touching his feet to the floor, and this provldes an added interest in the use of the exerciser. On the other hand, when it is preferred that the device should not be propelled along the fioor by the child, this is easily prevented by locking the wheels against rotation by inserting a pin through the pair of holes in each wheel hub and through the pair of holes 35 provided in each of the wheel arms of the base.

It would be possible to make several minor modifications in the structure of the device without changing its main features or departing from the principle of the invention while maintaining the adjustable mounting on the downwardly sloping free end of the main spring member.

I claim:

1. An adjustable exerciser including a base, wheels supporting said base, a curved spring riding member located in a substantially vertical plane, said member having a bottom end secured on said base, a main curved spring portion extending forwardly and upwardly from said base and then rearwardly, and a substantially straight free end extending rearwardly and downwardly from said main curved portion and terminating a short distance above said base, a seat carried on said free end, support means adjustably positioning said seat on said free end, said support means including a seat-carrying bar having a main part slidably mounted on said free end, a rearwardly extending arm on said bar forming an obtuse angle with said main part and thus with said free end, means for clamping said bar in place on said free end, and means for securing said seat on said arm, whereby said seat will be held in proper seating position, and whereby said seat can be arranged at a desired distance above the floor and at a location on said free end of said spring member suitable for the weight imposed on said seat.

2. Claim 1 with the addition of a handle and foot rest secured to the forward end of said seat-carrying bar and with said seat adjustably secured on said arm of said bar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,533,261 Pattison et al. Apr. 14, 1925 1,784,692 Kline Dec. 9, 1930 2,409.487 Hilger Oct. 15, 1946 

